The Best and Worst Results for 10 NBA Teams During the Offseason of 2022
The Best and Worst Results for 10 NBA Teams During the Offseason of 2022: Every team’s offseason is a mix of wins and losses, just like no NBA team has ever won every game or gone 0-82 over an entire year. Even the best summers had a mistake or two. Even the clubs that missed most of the time in the transaction game hit the ball at least once.
Most of the league’s business is done for the summer, except for possible deals involving Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell. As August gets closer, the NBA’s version of hibernation begins, and teams stop playing. So, now is an excellent time to look at what each team did right and wrong during the offseason.
Atlanta Hawks
Biggest Win: Contracting Dejounte Murray
Even though there will be some kinks to work out between Murray and Trae Young, who were both in the top five in a total time of possession last season, the Atlanta Hawks got a lot better by adding a top-notch backcourt defender who can run the show with or in place of Young.
Biggest Loss: Diminished Wing Depth
De’Andre Hunter is still on the team and will return to his job as a stopper on defence on the wing. But Kevin Huerter, whose average matchup difficulty wasn’t too far behind Hunter’s last season, was traded to the Sacramento Kings and is no longer with the Clippers. Last year, Delon Wright played a few games against bigger guards and smaller forwards, and in free agency, he joined the Washington Wizards.
Boston Celtics
Biggest Win: Trading for Malcolm Brogdon
Brogdon’s durability is a big worry since he has played 64 games or less in each of the last five years, with his lowest total being 36 games in 2021-22. But since the Boston Celtics didn’t have to give up much to get the 29-year-old combo guard, Brogdon, they could get a half-season out of him and still be way ahead.
Biggest Loss: N/A
The Celtics didn’t really lose any games that were worth talking about.
Brooklyn Nets
Biggest Win: Holding Strong on Kyrie Irving
Some might say that when the Brooklyn Nets got Irving and Kevin Durant, they sold their souls and gave up their culture for superstar talent. It was also in talks that their hard stance on Irving’s contract extension was mostly just a show of resolve that came too late. Brooklyn should be praised for saying “enough is enough,” and the team is better off because of it.
Biggest Loss: Trading for Royce O’Neale
From the time it came out on the early free-agency wire, this one made no sense. Everyone quickly forgot that the Brooklyn Nets gave up a first-round pick for O’Neale, a veteran three-and-D player who helped the Utah Jazz fail in the playoffs last year.
Charlotte Hornets
Biggest Win: Drafting Mark Williams
The Charlotte Hornets have needed a center for a long time, and by drafting Duke big man Mark Williams, they may have finally taken a step toward filling that need. Williams showed some skill on the perimeter in college, but he will likely only be used as a “dive man” on offense for the foreseeable future. On defense is where he will shine the most for this team.
Biggest Loss: Getting Steve Clifford as the Coach
Clifford will give a team that needs both a strong work ethic and a focus on defense. The problem is that we already know what to expect because Clifford told this same Hornets team the same things in 2018.
Chicago Bulls
Biggest Win: Re-Signing Zach LaVine
The Chicago Bulls gave in on every negotiable point except the no-trade clause. But giving Zach LaVine a five-year, multi-million deal with a player option in the fifth year was still the right thing to do. LaVine has had knee problems in the past, but he is a good scorer who can play on or off the ball and brings laurels to his team.
Biggest Loss: Lonzo Ball’s Knee Situation
Ball’s recovery from surgery in January to fix a torn meniscus is still going slowly, and Bulls executive Arturas Karnisovas gave some bad news about it. It wasn’t a coincidence that Chicago started the 2021-22 season so well when Lonzo was healthy and playing for many minutes. His hit-ahead passing, spot-up shooting, and great defense were all big reasons why the Bulls’ first three months were so good.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Biggest Win: Signing Ricky Rubio
Darius Garland is an All-Star, and the young Cleveland Cavaliers may already be good enough that they don’t need a veteran to keep things calm. But on an emotional level, you have to love Rubio’s return on a three-year, $18.4 million deal.
Biggest Loss: The Collin Sexton Circumstances
This is more of a string of bad luck than a loss since the Cavs never had a chance to get anything in return for Sexton before this offseason. So now, he may sign the qualifying offer and leave next summer when he can sign with any team he wants.
Dallas Mavericks
Biggest Win: Christian Wood
Before the Celtics signed Brogdon, the Dallas Mavericks’ trade of a late-round pick for Christian Wood was probably the most logical trade of the offseason. In exchange for the No. 26 pick in the 2022 draft and four non-rotation players with contracts that were about to end, Dallas got a big man with a lot of skill, making at least 37.4% of his three-point shots in each of the last three years.
Biggest Loss: Jalen Brunson
Spencer Dinwiddie has a good chance of making up for most of what the Mavericks lost when Brunson went to play for the New York Knicks, so the left-handed guard’s move was not a disaster. Still, it looks bad for the Mavs that their second-best offensive player went to a lottery team for less money and fewer years than they could have given him.
Denver Nuggets
Biggest Win: Getting Bruce Brown on board and Deal for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (tie)
Brown is a defensive dynamo whose cutting and setting screens fit perfectly with Nikola Jokic’s ability to make things happen, and KCP gives the Denver Nuggets the three-and-D skills they need in the backcourt. Of course, when you have to choose between two perfect additions like these, you automatically take away one from them, which feels wrong. In that situation, it’s possible that they did something wrong with the maxed-out player, too, but we’re staying positive.
Biggest Loss: Signing DeAndre Jordan
Jordan will be playing for the Nuggets for the sixth time in the last four years. The veteran center has never had a positive on-off differential in any of the last five seasons. Jordan isn’t even good at traditional big-man duties anymore, which makes him an odd choice for a Denver team that should have been looking for a change-of-pace small-ball center to replace Jokic.
Detroit Pistons
Biggest Win: Jaden Ivey Dropping to No. 5
Keegan Murray, Shaedon Sharpe, or any of the other players who were likely to be available when the Detroit Pistons picked fifth in the 2022 draft would have been fine. Unfortunately, the team isn’t even close to being in a position where it would make sense to draft for need. But Ivey’s small drop to the No. 5 spot made the Pistons’ offseason a success right away.
Biggest Loss: Bring Marvin Bagley III back for $37.5 million
Bagley is only 23 years old, and it’s not really a bad thing that the Sacramento Kings and their one-star player development system don’t get results. But it’s hard to figure out why the market for Bagley was set so high. Bagley’s outside shot has never been reliable, and he may not care about or be good at passing as much as anyone else in the league.
Golden State Warriors
Biggest Win: Signing Donte DiVincenzo
DiVincenzo will fit right into the Golden State Warriors’ system. He is a smart cutter and passer, and his outside shot looked good when he played for the Kings last season (36.8 percent on 5.8 deep shots per game). In addition, the 6’4″ combo guard steals a lot and crashes the boards hard on both ends, which will help the Warriors even when he isn’t scoring.
Biggest Loss: Not Keeping Gary Payton II
Even though losing players is part of winning, some Warriors fans were still upset when Payton left. It’s hard to understand why people say California is cheap while it carries a historic tax bill. Still, it’s too bad that the Warriors won’t be able to use Payton next season.